I could see D&W possibly staying past 2014, maybe even until 2018, especialy if they dont win Oly Gold in 2014. I did predict them retiring, but it wouldnt shock me if they continued on either. They would be under no threat for the U.S number 1 spot IMO, I really think the Shibutanis have already peaked and wont ever reach the top 3 or 4 in the World again. D&W would still be taking a risk continuing though, the judges might get tired of them being on top so long and start to push some of the younger teams, especialy the Russians, over them. No way do I see V&M continuing past 2014. They even talked about not continuing past 2010 or until 2014 at one point, Tessa has a long history of leg problems, and no matter what they have already won the Olympics and all there is to win.

I don't think d/w pcs would go down. And since they are close to 10 in every category even going down to 9 would still leave them in a comfortable position above all other teams. B/s and d/w are now high 7 to 8 plus so if d/w went down to 9 that would still leave an edge. Even if their tech suffered worse than it is this season - and it is suffering- anything they do even remotely on target gets all +3 goe. D/w might continue knowing the Russians or Canadian replacements of v/m would not be able to reach them for a couple of seasons and maybe there wouldn't be a changing of the guard until after 2018 for gold medals.

I think that the pair between V/M and D/W who won't win Gold in 2014 will stay until 2018: if V/M won the Gold medal again, they would obviously retire, and D/W would stay till 2018 because I think that they really want that OGM; if D/W whe Gold tehy would be the first North American couple to do so and they would retire,and there would be a possibility of V/M staying until 2018 I think... P/B will be too old to keep competing at high levels, if both D/W and V/M retire they would remain amateur in order to win the 2015 World Title and then retire I think; however, after 2014 the battle for the important levels will be C/L, W/P, B/S and I/K.
In Ladies, Yu-Na, Carolina and Akiko have already announced that they will retire, if Mao doesn't win the OGM she could maybe retire but she could also stay in... I think that Ashley will keep competing, the same for Adelina, Liza and Julia, unless some of them wins the OGM.
I HOPE that Plushy will reitre, Patrcik and Daisuke will retire, too, then it will be Javi vs Yuzuru (unless Hanyu wins the OGM in 2014).
In Pairs, all the top Pairs (S/S, V/T, P/T, K/S) will retire

This is terrifying! I actually think that all of these teams (maybe not p/b) might continue for some other seasons (I do really hope in any case!) since ice dance is a category in which skaters can be competitive even when older. I think d/w would love to continue, not sure about v/m. c/l could have the best of their careers after Sochi

I agree. Although I'd love to see young ice dancers at senior level, I can't really imagine ice dance without ice dancers like V/M or D/W. I'd love to see them dance all the way to Pyeongchang in 2018, but I'm not really sure..:(

V/M have spoken pretty openly about being in the last phase of their career - right now it would be a surprise to see them skate in Tokyo, let alone attend the 2018 Olympics in a competitive capacity (I could see Tessa as a choreographer though). V/M (and D/W to a lesser extent) have the capacity to win two golds in Sochi.

I think that the pair between V/M and D/W who won't win Gold in 2014 will stay until 2018: if V/M won the Gold medal again, they would obviously retire, and D/W would stay till 2018 because I think that they really want that OGM; if D/W whe Gold tehy would be the first North American couple to do so and they would retire,and there would be a possibility of V/M staying until 2018 I think... P/B will be too old to keep competing at high levels, if both D/W and V/M retire they would remain amateur in order to win the 2015 World Title and then retire I think; however, after 2014 the battle for the important levels will be C/L, W/P, B/S and I/K.
In Ladies, Yu-Na, Carolina and Akiko have already announced that they will retire, if Mao doesn't win the OGM she could maybe retire but she could also stay in... I think that Ashley will keep competing, the same for Adelina, Liza and Julia, unless some of them wins the OGM.
I HOPE that Plushy will reitre, Patrcik and Daisuke will retire, too, then it will be Javi vs Yuzuru (unless Hanyu wins the OGM in 2014).
In Pairs, all the top Pairs (S/S, V/T, P/T, K/S) will retire

V/M are the first North American team to win a Gold medal in Ice Dancing.

I think that the pair between V/M and D/W who won't win Gold in 2014 will stay until 2018: if V/M won the Gold medal again, they would obviously retire, and D/W would stay till 2018 because I think that they really want that OGM; if D/W whe Gold tehy would be the first North American couple to do so and they would retire,and there would be a possibility of V/M staying until 2018 I think...

FSGMT's bit of garbling no doubt was accidental, but if Davis/White win at the Sochi Games, theirs would be the second OGM in ice dance for North America. Still would be a big deal as the first for the USA, but Virtue/Moir already won the first for North America.

Originally Posted by ImaginaryPogue

V/M have spoken pretty openly about being in the last phase of their career - right now it would be a surprise to see them skate in Tokyo, let alone attend the 2018 Olympics in a competitive capacity (I could see Tessa as a choreographer though). ...

Agree that at the 2018 Games, a non-athlete role -- e.g., choreographer, coach, federation official -- would be within the realm of possibility both for Virtue and for Moir [if either takes an interest in such a path??? ].

Men
Zhenya
Diasuke
Joubert
Liebers
Menshov
Chan ? by the time its 2018 he will have a tough time with alot of younger newcomers that his Technical abilities cant even match with his inflated pcs

2018 Skaters
I expect a domination of the soon to be King and the loveable Yuzuru Hanyu who beats the overrated patrick chan in pcs and tes
Javi's time will come by 2018. also Chen, Farris, Zhou , Samarin and others have potential it will be another cycle of mostly talented asian skaters

Ladies
Carolina
Akiko
Mao - if she doesnt win she will still g for 2018 though I doubt her tes will keep up with new CoP girls
Yuna
Flatt
Zhang
MCorell

for 2018:
uncertain ladies as they are all young, out of all raw talent and IT , Julia has it all, even commentators acknowledge she will just need more time and experience
Gracie, Liza, Osmond, Elena , Kanako and Satoko will do well. Anna P., Serafima and Karen could be on the mix

Sotnikova if she stays until 28 years old - could be the next Maria Butyrskaya
a skater who is so mentally weak that crumbles under pressure but will get better as she gets older

Which international skating stars will retire and which will go on past 2014. This will be a good prediction thread to return too. Here are mine:

Pairs:

Volosozhar & Trankov- go on past 2014. Go on to 2018 if they dont win Oly Gold in 2014, if they do might not go all the way to 2018.
Savchenko & Szolkowy- done after 2014, Oly Gold or not.
Barazova & Larionov- go on past 2014, probably to 2018.
Kavaguti & Smirnov- she is done after 2014, he might continue with new partner.
Duhamel & Radford- will continue to 2018.
Moore-Towers & Moscovitch- will continue past 2014, not sure until 2018 or not.
Denney & Coughlin- unfortunately will probably continue until 2018, unless their personal relationship goes south.
Pang & Tong- done after 2014.
Hui & San- break up soon after 2014 due to height problems.

Men:

Chan- done after 2014, win or lose.
Hanyu- stays until 2018.
Takahashi- done after 2014, Oly Gold or not.
Lysacek- done after 2014 (well already done really)
Weir- ditto Lysacek.
Plushenko- done after Sochi Olympics for sure.
Abbott- might continue past 2014, but probably not until 2018. Might try and scalp a world medal in weakish field if he doesnt have one yet.
Miner and Dornbush- staying until 2018.
Reynolds- staying past 2014 to try and see what he can do as Canada's #1 with Chan gone, but probably wont stay until 2018.
Joubert- done after 2014.
Fernandez- going until 2018.
Kozuka- will go past 2018, but maybe not until 2018.
Oda- done after 2014.
Mura and Machida- going until 2018 (Mura possibly longer).

Of course in Ladies singles there are 12, 13,14 year olds under the radar right now that will be in the running. It always happens that way. I remember reading a article shortly after the Turin Olympics when talking about the US Ladies team for 2010. They had Meissner, Hughes and teenager to be named later. Of course we all know that all turned out. A lot can happen in just a couple years let alone 5.

The Junior US pairs team Oltmanns/Santillan have been together for more that 6 years. Their progress is flat at best and non existent at worst. The pairs team is close in height and should split. Unlike some of the newer teams this team should reconsider their options.